Search

The Sun is magnetically active and often produces eruptive events on different energetic and temporal scales. Until recently, the upper limit of such events was unknown and believed to be roughly represented by direct instrumental observations. However, two types of extreme events were discovered recently: extreme solar energetic particle events on the multi-millennial time scale and super-flares on sun-like stars. Both discoveries imply that the Sun might rarely produce events, called extreme solar events (ESE), whose energy could be orders of magnitude greater than anything we have observed during recent decades. During the years following these discoveries, great progress has been achieved in collecting observational evidence, uncovering new events, making statistical analyses, and developing theoretical modelling. The ESE paradigm lives and is being developed. On the other hand, many outstanding questions still remain open and new ones emerge. Here we present an overview of the current state of the art and the forming paradigm of ESE from different points of view: solar physics, stellar–solar projections, cosmogenic-isotope data, modelling, historical data, as well as terrestrial, technological and societal effects of ESEs. Special focus is paid to open questions and further developments. This review is based on the joint work of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) team #510 (2020–2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revisit the full variety of observed temporal and spatial distributions of energetic solar protons in "gradual" solar energetic-particle (SEP) events resulting from the spatial variations in the shock waves that accelerate them. Differences in the shock strength at the solar longitude of a spacecraft and at the footpoint of its connecting magnetic field line, curved by solar rotation nominally 55 ∘ to the west, drive much of that variation. The shock wave itself, together with energetic particles trapped near it by self-amplified hydromagnetic or Alfvén waves, forms an underlying autonomous structure. This structure can drive across magnetic field lines intact, spreading proton intensities in a widening SEP longitude distribution. During the formation of this fundamental structure, historically called an "energetic storm particle" (ESP) event, many SEPs leak away early, amplifying waves as they flow along well-connected field lines and broaden the distribution outward; behind the structure, between the shock and the Sun, a "reservoir" of quasi-trapped SEPs forms. Very large SEP events are complicated by additional extensive wave growth that can spread an extended ESP-like trapping region around the Sun throughout most of the pre-shock event. Here SEP intensities are bounded at the "streaming limit," a balance between proton streaming, which amplifies waves, and scattering, which reduces the streaming. The multiplicity of shock-related processes contributing to the observed SEP profiles causes correlations of the events to be poorly represented by the single peak intensity commonly used. In fact, the extensive spatial distributions of SEPs are sometimes free and sometimes interwoven with the structures of the shocks that have accelerated them. We should consider new questions: Which extremes of the shock contribute most to a local SEPs profile of an event, (1) the shock at the longitude of a spacecraft, (2) the shock ∼ 55 ∘ to the west at the footpoint of the field, or (3) SEPs that have collected in the reservoir? How does the space-time distribution of SEPs correspond with the underlying space-time distribution of shock strength? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BepiColombo Environment Radiation Monitor (BERM) on board the European Space Agency's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), is designed to measure the radiation environment encountered by BepiColombo. The instrument measures electrons with energies from ∼ 150 keV to ∼ 10 MeV , protons with energies from ∼ 1.5 MeV to ∼ 100 MeV , and heavy ions with Linear Energy Transfer from 1 to 50 MeV ⋅ mg − 1 ⋅ cm 2 . BERM is operated continuously, being responsible for monitoring the radiation levels during all phases of the mission, including the cruise, the planetary flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury, and the Hermean environment. In this paper, we describe the scientific objectives, instrument design and calibration, and the in-flight scientific performance of BERM. Moreover, we provide the first scientific results obtained by BERM during the BepiColombo flyby of Earth in April 2020, and after the impact of a solar energetic particle event during the cruise phase in May 2021. We also discuss the future plans of the instrument including synergies with other instruments on the BepiColombo and on other missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the earliest indicators of the importance of shock acceleration of solar energetic particles (SEPs) was the broad spatial extent of the "gradual" SEP events produced as the shock waves, driven by wide, fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs), expand across the Sun with cross-field transport mediated by the shocks. Contrasting "impulsive" SEP events, with characteristic enhancements of 3He and of heavy elements, are now associated with magnetic reconnection on open field lines in solar jets. However, large shock waves can also traverse pools of residual impulsive suprathermal ions and jets can produce fast CMEs that drive shock waves; in both cases shocks reaccelerate ions with the "impulsive" abundance signatures as well as coronal plasma. These more-complex events produce "excess protons" that identify this process, and recently, differences in the distribution of 4He abundances have also been found to depend upon the combination of seed population and acceleration mode. Extreme differences in the 4He abundances may reflect underlying differences in the abundances of the coronal regions being sampled by solar jets and, surprisingly, SEP events where shock waves sample two seed-particle populations seem to have about twice the 4He/O ratio of those with a single source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixty years ago the first observation was published showing solar energetic particles (SEPs) with a sampling of chemical elements with atomic numbers 6 ≤ Z ≤ 18 above 40 MeV amu−1. Thus began study of the direct products of dynamic physics in the solar corona. As we have progressed from 4-min sounding-rocket samples to continuous satellite coverage of SEP events, we have extended the observations to the unusual distribution of element abundances throughout the periodic table. Small "impulsive" SEP events from islands of magnetic reconnection on open magnetic-field lines in solar jets generate huge enhancements in abundances of 3He and of the heaviest elements, enhancements increasing as a power of the ion mass-to-charge ratio as (A / Q )3.6, on average. Solar flares involve the same physics but there the SEPs are trapped on closed loops, expending their energy as heat and light. The larger, energetic "gradual" SEP events are accelerated at shock waves driven by fast, wide coronal mass ejections (CMEs). However, these shocks can also reaccelerate ions from pools of residual suprathermal impulsive ions, and CMEs from jets can also drive fast shocks, complicating the picture. The underlying element abundances in SEP events represent the solar corona, which differs from corresponding abundances in the photosphere as a function of the first ionization potential (FIP) of the elements, distinguishing low-FIP (<10 eV) ions from high-FIP neutral atoms as they expand through the chromosphere. Differences in FIP patterns of SEPs and the solar wind may distinguish closed- and open-field regions of formation at the base of the corona. Dependence of SEP acceleration upon A / Q allows best-fit estimation of ion Q -values and hence of the source plasma temperature of ∼1 – 3 MK, derived from abundances, which correlates with recent measures of temperatures using extreme ultraviolet emission from jets. Thus, element abundances in SEPs have become a powerful tool to study the underlying solar corona and to probe physical processes of broad astrophysical significance, from the "FIP effect" to magnetic reconnection and shock acceleration. New questions arise, however, about the theoretical basis of correlations of energy-spectral indices with power-laws of abundances, about the coexistence of separate resonant and non-resonant mechanisms for enhancements of 3He and of heavy elements, about occasional events with unusual suppression of He and about the overall paucity of C in FIP comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) in solar and stellar flares has been known for over 50 years and significant progress has been made in this research area. It has become clear that QPPs are not rare—they are found in many flares and, therefore, robust flare models should reproduce their properties in a natural way. At least fifteen mechanisms/models have been developed to explain QPPs in solar flares, which mainly assume the presence of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillations in coronal structures (magnetic loops and current sheets) or quasi-periodic regimes of magnetic reconnection. We review the most important and interesting results on flare QPPs, with an emphasis on the results of recent years, and we present the predicted and prominent observational signatures of each of the fifteen mechanisms. However, it is not yet possible to draw an unambiguous conclusion as to the correct underlying QPP mechanism because of the qualitative, rather than quantitative, nature of most of the models and also due to insufficient observational information on the physical properties of the flare region, in particular the spatial structure of the QPP source. We also review QPPs in stellar flares, where progress is largely based on solar-stellar analogies, suggesting similarities in the physical processes in flare regions on the Sun and magnetoactive stars. The presence of QPPs with similar properties in solar and stellar flares is, in itself, a strong additional argument in favor of the likelihood of solar-stellar analogies. Hence, advancing our understanding of QPPs in solar flares provides an important additional channel of information about stellar flares. However, further work in both theory/simulations and in observations is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapidly decaying long-period oscillations often occur in hot coronal loops of active regions associated with small (or micro-) flares. This kind of wave activity was first discovered with the SOHO/SUMER spectrometer from Doppler velocity measurements of hot emission lines, thus also often called "SUMER" oscillations. They were mainly interpreted as global (or fundamental mode) standing slow magnetoacoustic waves. In addition, increasing evidence has suggested that the decaying harmonic type of pulsations detected in light curves of solar and stellar flares are likely caused by standing slow-mode waves. The study of slow magnetoacoustic waves in coronal loops has become a topic of particular interest in connection with coronal seismology. We review recent results from SDO/AIA and Hinode/XRT observations that have detected both standing and reflected intensity oscillations in hot flaring loops showing the physical properties (e.g., oscillation periods, decay times, and triggers) in accord with the SUMER oscillations. We also review recent advances in theory and numerical modeling of slow-mode waves focusing on the wave excitation and damping mechanisms. MHD simulations in 1D, 2D and 3D have been dedicated to understanding the physical conditions for the generation of a reflected propagating or a standing wave by impulsive heating. Various damping mechanisms and their analysis methods are summarized. Calculations based on linear theory suggest that the non-ideal MHD effects such as thermal conduction, compressive viscosity, and optically thin radiation may dominate in damping of slow-mode waves in coronal loops of different physical conditions. Finally, an overview is given of several important seismological applications such as determination of transport coefficients and heating function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterized by cyclic axisymmetric perturbations to both the magnetic and fluid parameters, magnetohydrodynamic fast sausage modes (FSMs) have proven useful for solar coronal seismology given their strong dispersion. This review starts by summarizing the dispersive properties of the FSMs in the canonical configuration where the equilibrium quantities are transversely structured in a step fashion. With this preparation we then review the recent theoretical studies on coronal FSMs, showing that the canonical dispersion features have been better understood physically, and further exploited seismologically. In addition, we show that departures from the canonical equilibrium configuration have led to qualitatively different dispersion features, thereby substantially broadening the range of observations that FSMs can be invoked to account for. We also summarize the advances in forward modeling studies, emphasizing the intricacies in interpreting observed oscillatory signals in terms of FSMs. All these advances notwithstanding, we offer a list of aspects that remain to be better addressed, with the physical connection of coronal FSMs to the quasi-periodic pulsations in solar flares particularly noteworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3He-rich solar energetic particles (SEPs), showing up to a 10,000-fold abundance enhancement of rare elements like 3He or ultra-heavy nuclei, have been a puzzle for more than 50 years. One reason for the current lack of understanding of 3He-rich SEPs is the difficulty resolving the source regions of these commonly occurring events. Since their discovery, there has been strong evidence that 3He-rich SEP production is associated with flares on the Sun. Anomalous abundances of 3He-rich SEPs have been attributed to a unique acceleration mechanism that must routinely operate at flare sites. Flares associated with 3He-rich SEPs have been often observed in jet-like forms indicating an acceleration in magnetic reconnection involving field lines open to interplanetary space. Owing to a fleet of spacecraft around the Sun, providing a greatly improved resolution of solar imaging observations, 3He-rich SEP sources are now explored in unprecedented detail. This paper outlines the current understanding of 3He-rich SEPs, mainly focusing on their solar sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based upon recent evidence from abundance patterns of chemical elements in solar energetic particles (SEPs), and, ironically, the belated inclusion of H and He, we can distinguish four basic SEP populations: (1) SEP1—pure "impulsive" SEPs are produced by magnetic reconnection in solar jets showing steep power-law enhancements of 1 ≤ Z ≤ 56 ions versus charge-to-mass ratio A / Q from a ≈ 3 MK plasma. (2) SEP2—ambient ions, mostly protons, plus SEP1 ions reaccelerated by the shock wave driven by the narrow coronal mass ejection (CME) from the same jet. (3) SEP3—a "gradual" SEP event is produced when a moderately fast, wide CME-driven shock wave barely accelerates ambient protons while preferentially accelerating accumulated remnant SEP1 ions from an active region fed by multiple jets. (4) SEP4—a gradual SEP event is produced when a very fast, wide CME-driven shock wave is completely dominated by ambient coronal seed population of 0.8–1.8 MK plasma usually producing a full power law vs. A / Q for 1 ≤ Z ≤ 56 ions. We begin with element abundances in the photosphere that are fractionated during transport up to the corona based upon their first ionization potential (FIP); this important "FIP effect" for SEPs provides our reference abundances and is different for SEPs from that for the solar wind. We then show evidence for each of the processes of acceleration, reacceleration, and transport that conspire to produce the four abundances patterns we distinguish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar flare emission is detected in all EM bands and variations in flux density of solar energetic particles. Often the EM radiation generated in solar and stellar flares shows a pronounced oscillatory pattern, with characteristic periods ranging from a fraction of a second to several minutes. These oscillations are referred to as quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs), to emphasise that they often contain apparent amplitude and period modulation. We review the current understanding of quasi-periodic pulsations in solar and stellar flares. In particular, we focus on the possible physical mechanisms, with an emphasis on the underlying physics that generates the resultant range of periodicities. These physical mechanisms include MHD oscillations, self-oscillatory mechanisms, oscillatory reconnection/reconnection reversal, wave-driven reconnection, two loop coalescence, MHD flow over-stability, the equivalent LCR-contour mechanism, and thermal-dynamical cycles. We also provide a histogram of all QPP events published in the literature at this time. The occurrence of QPPs puts additional constraints on the interpretation and understanding of the fundamental processes operating in flares, e.g. magnetic energy liberation and particle acceleration. Therefore, a full understanding of QPPs is essential in order to work towards an integrated model of solar and stellar flares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) is a six-frequency scientific instrument designed and built to investigate the deep atmosphere of Jupiter. It is one of a suite of instruments on NASA's New Frontiers Mission Juno launched to Jupiter on August 5, 2011. The focus of this paper is the description of the scientific objectives of the MWR investigation along with the experimental design, observational approach, and calibration that will achieve these objectives, based on the Juno mission plan up to Jupiter orbit insertion on July 4, 2016. With frequencies distributed approximately by octave from 600 MHz to 22 GHz, the MWR will sample the atmospheric thermal radiation from depths extending from the ammonia cloud region at around 1 bar to pressure levels as deep as 1000 bars. The primary scientific objectives of the MWR investigation are to determine the presently unknown dynamical properties of Jupiter's subcloud atmosphere and to determine the global abundance of oxygen and nitrogen, present in the atmosphere as water and ammonia deep below their respective cloud decks. The MWR experiment is designed to measure both the thermal radiation from Jupiter and its emission-angle dependence at each frequency relative to the atmospheric local normal with high accuracy. The antennas at the four highest frequencies (21.9, 10.0, 5.2, and 2.6 GHz) have ∼12° beamwidths and will achieve a spatial resolution approaching 600 km near perijove. The antennas at the lowest frequencies (0.6 and 1.25 GHz) are constrained by physical size limitations and have 20° beamwidths, enabling a spatial resolution of as high as 1000 km to be obtained. The MWR will obtain Jupiter's brightness temperature and its emission-angle dependence at each point along the subspacecraft track, over angles up to 60° from the normal over most latitudes, during at least six perijove passes after orbit insertion. The emission-angle dependence will be obtained for all frequencies to an accuracy of better than one part in $10^{3}$ , sufficient to detect small variations in atmospheric temperature and absorber concentration profiles that distinguish dynamical and compositional properties of the deep Jovian atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2016, NASA's Juno mission becomes the first spacecraft to enter polar orbit of Jupiter and venture deep into unexplored polar territories of the magnetosphere. Focusing on these polar regions, we review current understanding of the structure and dynamics of the magnetosphere and summarize the outstanding issues. The Juno mission profile involves (a) a several-week approach from the dawn side of Jupiter's magnetosphere, with an orbit-insertion maneuver on July 6, 2016; (b) a 107-day capture orbit, also on the dawn flank; and (c) a series of thirty 11-day science orbits with the spacecraft flying over Jupiter's poles and ducking under the radiation belts. We show how Juno's view of the magnetosphere evolves over the year of science orbits. The Juno spacecraft carries a range of instruments that take particles and fields measurements, remote sensing observations of auroral emissions at UV, visible, IR and radio wavelengths, and detect microwave emission from Jupiter's radiation belts. We summarize how these Juno measurements address issues of auroral processes, microphysical plasma physics, ionosphere-magnetosphere and satellite-magnetosphere coupling, sources and sinks of plasma, the radiation belts, and the dynamics of the outer magnetosphere. To reach Jupiter, the Juno spacecraft passed close to the Earth on October 9, 2013, gaining the necessary energy to get to Jupiter. The Earth flyby provided an opportunity to test Juno's instrumentation as well as take scientific data in the terrestrial magnetosphere, in conjunction with ground-based and Earth-orbiting assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review we consider aspects of space weather that can have a severe impact on the terrestrial atmosphere. We begin by identifying the pre-conditioning role of the Sun on the temperature and density of the upper atmosphere. This effect we define as 'space climatology'. Space weather effects are then defined as severe departures from this state of the atmospheric energy and density. Three specific forms of space weather are reviewed and we show that each generates severe space weather impacts. The three forms of space weather being considered are the solar photon flux (flares), particle precipitation (aurora), and electromagnetic Joule heating (magnetosphere-ionospheric (M-I) coupling). We provide an overview of the physical processes associated with each of these space weather forms. In each case a very specific altitude range exists over which the processes can most effectively impact the atmosphere. Our argument is that a severe change in the local atmosphere's state leads to atmospheric heating and other dynamic changes at locations beyond the input heat source region. All three space weather forms have their greatest atmospheric impact between 100 and 130 km. This altitude region comprises the transition between the atmosphere's mesosphere and thermosphere and is the ionosphere's E-region. This region is commonly referred to as the Space Atmosphere Interaction Region (SAIR). The SAIR also acts to insulate the lower atmosphere from the space weather impact of energy deposition. A similar space weather zone would be present in atmospheres of other planets and exoplanets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In June 2016 a group of 40 space weather scientists attended the workshop on Scientific Foundations of Space Weather at the International Space Science Institute in Bern. In this lead article to the volume based on the talks and discussions during the workshop we review some of main past achievements in the field and outline some of the challenges that the science of space weather is facing today and in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronal magnetic field models use photospheric field measurements as boundary condition to model the solar corona. We review in this paper the most common model assumptions, starting from MHD-models, magnetohydrostatics, force-free and finally potential field models. Each model in this list is somewhat less complex than the previous one and makes more restrictive assumptions by neglecting physical effects. The magnetohydrostatic approach neglects time-dependent phenomena and plasma flows, the force-free approach neglects additionally the gradient of the plasma pressure and the gravity force. This leads to the assumption of a vanishing Lorentz force and electric currents are parallel (or anti-parallel) to the magnetic field lines. Finally, the potential field approach neglects also these currents. We outline the main assumptions, benefits and limitations of these models both from a theoretical (how realistic are the models?) and a practical viewpoint (which computer resources to we need?). Finally we address the important problem of noisy and inconsistent photospheric boundary conditions and the possibility of using chromospheric and coronal observations to improve the models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outcomes of the workshop resulted in this Topical Collection which consists of seven comprehensive review papers. Oscillatory Processes in Solar and Stellar Coronae Edited by Valery M. Nakariakov, Dipankar Banerjee, Bo Li, Tongjiang Wang, Ivan Zimovets and Maurizio Falanga In 2019 the solar physics research community celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first detection of oscillatory processes in the solar corona as a quasi-periodic pulsation (QPP) of an X-ray and radio emission produced by a solar flare (Parks, G.K. Another review summarises the current state of the physical mechanisms and observational properties of QPPs in solar flares and considers their analogy with QPPs in stellar flares. [Extracted from the article]

Coronal jets represent important manifestations of ubiquitous solar transients, which may be the source of significant mass and energy input to the upper solar atmosphere and the solar wind. While the energy involved in a jet-like event is smaller than that of 'nominal' solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), jets share many common properties with these phenomena, in particular, the explosive magnetically driven dynamics. Studies of jets could, therefore, provide critical insight for understanding the larger, more complex drivers of the solar activity. On the other side of the size-spectrum, the study of jets could also supply important clues on the physics of transients close or at the limit of the current spatial resolution such as spicules. Furthermore, jet phenomena may hint to basic process for heating the corona and accelerating the solar wind; consequently their study gives us the opportunity to attack a broad range of solar-heliospheric problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have spent 50 years in heated discussion over which populations of solar energetic particles (SEPs) are accelerated at flares and which by shock waves driven out from the Sun by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The association of the large 'gradual' SEP events with shock acceleration is supported by the extensive spatial distribution of SEPs and by the delayed acceleration of the particles. Recent STEREO observations have begun to show that the particle onset times correspond to the observed time of arrival of the shock on the observer's magnetic flux tube and that the SEP intensities are related to the local shock speed. The relative abundances of the elements in these gradual events are a measure of those in the ambient solar corona, differing from those in the photosphere by a widely-observed function of the first ionization potential (FIP) of the elements. SEP events we call 'impulsive', the traditional 'He-rich' events with enhanced heavy-element abundances, are associated with type III radio bursts, flares, and narrow CMEs; they selectively populate flux tubes that thread a localized source, and they are fit to new particle-in-cell models of magnetic reconnection on open field lines as found in solar jets. These models help explain the strong enhancements seen in heavy elements as a power (of 2-8) in the mass-to-charge ratio $A/Q$ throughout the periodic table from He to Pb. A study of the temperature dependence of $A/Q$ shows that the source plasma in impulsive SEP events must lie in the range of 2-4 MK to explain the pattern of abundances. This is much lower than the temperatures of >10 MK seen on closed loops in solar flares. Recent studies of $A/Q$-dependent enhancements or suppressions from scattering during transport show source plasma temperatures in gradual SEP events to be 0.8-1.6 MK in 69 % of the events, i.e. coronal plasma; 24 % of the events show reaccelerated impulsive-event material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmic magnetic structures have in common that they are anchored in a dynamo, that an external driver converts kinetic energy into internal magnetic energy, that this magnetic energy is transported as Poynting flux across the magnetically dominated structure, and that the magnetic energy is released in the form of particle acceleration, heating, bulk motion, MHD waves, and radiation. The investigation of the electric current system is particularly illuminating as to the course of events and the physics involved. We demonstrate this for the radio pulsar wind, the solar flare, and terrestrial magnetic storms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astrophysical fluids have very large Reynolds numbers and therefore turbulence is their natural state. Magnetic reconnection is an important process in many astrophysical plasmas, which allows restructuring of magnetic fields and conversion of stored magnetic energy into heat and kinetic energy. Turbulence is known to dramatically change different transport processes and therefore it is not unexpected that turbulence can alter the dynamics of magnetic field lines within the reconnection process. We shall review the interaction between turbulence and reconnection at different scales, showing how a state of turbulent reconnection is natural in astrophysical plasmas, with implications for a range of phenomena across astrophysics. We consider the process of magnetic reconnection that is fast in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) limit and discuss how turbulence-both externally driven and generated in the reconnecting system-can make reconnection independent on the microphysical properties of plasmas. We will also show how relaxation theory can be used to calculate the energy dissipated in turbulent reconnecting fields. As well as heating the plasma, the energy dissipated by turbulent reconnection may cause acceleration of non-thermal particles, which is briefly discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alfvén waves are considered to be viable transporters of the non-thermal energy required to heat the Sun's quiescent atmosphere. An abundance of recent observations, from state-of-the-art facilities, have reported the existence of Alfvén waves in a range of chromospheric and coronal structures. Here, we review the progress made in disentangling the characteristics of transverse kink and torsional linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. We outline the simple, yet powerful theory describing their basic properties in (non-)uniform magnetic structures, which closely resemble the building blocks of the real solar atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence for two different physical mechanisms for acceleration of solar energetic particles (SEPs) arose 50 years ago with radio observations of type III bursts, produced by outward streaming electrons, and type II bursts from coronal and interplanetary shock waves. Since that time we have found that the former are related to 'impulsive' SEP events from impulsive flares or jets. Here, resonant stochastic acceleration, related to magnetic reconnection involving open field lines, produces not only electrons but 1000-fold enhancements of He/He and of ( Z>50)/O. Alternatively, in 'gradual' SEP events, shock waves, driven out from the Sun by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), more democratically sample ion abundances that are even used to measure the coronal abundances of the elements. Gradual events produce by far the highest SEP intensities near Earth. Sometimes residual impulsive suprathermal ions contribute to the seed population for shock acceleration, complicating the abundance picture, but this process has now been modeled theoretically. Initially, impulsive events define a point source on the Sun, selectively filling few magnetic flux tubes, while gradual events show extensive acceleration that can fill half of the inner heliosphere, beginning when the shock reaches ∼2 solar radii. Shock acceleration occurs as ions are scattered back and forth across the shock by resonant Alfvén waves amplified by the accelerated protons themselves as they stream away. These waves also can produce a streaming-limited maximum SEP intensity and plateau region upstream of the shock. Behind the shock lies the large expanse of the 'reservoir', a spatially extensive trapped volume of uniform SEP intensities with invariant energy-spectral shapes where overall intensities decrease with time as the enclosing 'magnetic bottle' expands adiabatically. These reservoirs now explain the slow intensity decrease that defines gradual events and was once erroneously attributed solely to slow outward diffusion of the particles. At times the reservoir from one event can contribute its abundances and even its spectra as a seed population for acceleration by a second CME-driven shock wave. Confinement of particles to magnetic flux tubes that thread their source early in events is balanced at late times by slow velocity-dependent migration through a tangled network produced by field-line random walk that is probed by SEPs from both impulsive and gradual events and even by anomalous cosmic rays from the outer heliosphere. As a practical consequence, high-energy protons from gradual SEP events can be a significant radiation hazard to astronauts and equipment in space and to the passengers of high-altitude aircraft flying polar routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle acceleration in solar flares remains an outstanding problem in plasma physics and space science. While the observed particle energies and timescales can perhaps be understood in terms of acceleration at a simple current sheet or turbulence site, the vast number of accelerated particles, and the fraction of flare energy in them, defies any simple explanation. The nature of energy storage and dissipation in the global coronal magnetic field is essential for understanding flare acceleration. Scenarios where the coronal field is stressed by complex photospheric motions lead to the formation of multiple current sheets, rather than the single monolithic current sheet proposed by some. The currents sheets in turn can fragment into multiple, smaller dissipation sites. MHD, kinetic and cellular automata models are used to demonstrate this feature. Particle acceleration in this environment thus involves interaction with many distributed accelerators. A series of examples demonstrate how acceleration works in such an environment. As required, acceleration is fast, and relativistic energies are readily attained. It is also shown that accelerated particles do indeed interact with multiple acceleration sites. Test particle models also demonstrate that a large number of particles can be accelerated, with a significant fraction of the flare energy associated with them. However, in the absence of feedback, and with limited numerical resolution, these results need to be viewed with caution. Particle in cell models can incorporate feedback and in one scenario suggest that acceleration can be limited by the energetic particles reaching the condition for firehose marginal stability. Contemporary issues such as footpoint particle acceleration are also discussed. It is also noted that the idea of a 'standard flare model' is ill-conceived when the entire distribution of flare energies is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I outline, from a theoretical and somewhat personal perspective, significant features of Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) as Cosmic Accelerators. I pay special attention to the recently discovered gamma ray 'flares' in the Crab Nebula's emission, focusing on the possibility, raised by the observations, that the accelerating electric field exceeds the magnetic field, suggesting that reconnection in the persistent current layer (a 'current sheet') plays a significant role in the behavior of this well studied Pevatron. I address the present status of the termination shock model for the particle accelerator that converts the wind flow energy to the observed non-thermal particle spectra, concluding that it has a number of major difficulties related to the transverse magnetic geometry of the shock wave. I discuss recent work on the inferred pair outflow rates, which are in excess of those predicted by existing theories of pair creation, and use those results to point out that the consequent mass loading of the wind reduces the wind's bulk flow 4-velocity to the point that dissipation of the magnetic field in a pulsar's wind upstream of the termination shock is restored to life as a viable model for the solution of the ' σ' problem. I discuss some suggestions that current starvation in the current flow supporting the structured ('striped') upstream magnetic field perhaps induces a transition to superluminal wave propagation. I show that current starvation probably does not occur, because those currents are carried in the current sheet separating the stripes rather than in the stripes themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar flares efficiently accelerate electrons to several tens of MeV and ions to 10 GeV. The acceleration is usually thought to be associated with magnetic reconnection occurring high in the corona, though a shock produced by the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) associated with a flare can also accelerate particles. Diagnostic information comes from emission at the acceleration site, direct observations of Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs), and emission at radio wavelengths by escaping particles, but mostly from emission from the chromosphere produced when the energetic particles bombard the footpoints magnetically connected to the acceleration region. This paper provides a review of observations that bear upon the acceleration mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kinetic models are necessary to describe the physical processes associated with non-Maxwellian velocity distribution functions (VDFs) of electrons or ions in the solar corona and wind. It is shown that pitch-angle scattering of electrons in the solar wind needs to be considered in kinetic solar wind models. Coulomb collisions are not efficient enough to provide this scattering, but resonant interaction with whistler waves is. A solar wind model for undisturbed fast wind is presented, and the influence of scattering on flare electron propagation is investigated. Furthermore, it is found that resonant interaction of electrons with whistler waves is capable of producing suprathermal tails of electron distributions even under quiet conditions without flare activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heating and acceleration of ions during magnetic reconnection relevant to coronal heating and flares is explored via particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and analytic modeling. We show that the dominant heating mechanism of sub-Alvénic ions during reconnection with a guide field, the case of greatest relevance to the corona, results from pickup behavior during the entry into reconnection exhausts, which produces effective thermal speeds of the order of the Alfvén velocity based on the reconnecting magnetic field. There is a mass-to-charge ( M/ Q) threshold for pickup behavior that favors the heating of high- M/ Q ions. Ions below the threshold gain little energy beyond that associated with convective flow. PIC simulations with protons and alphas confirm the pickup threshold. The enhanced heating of high M/ Q ions is consistent with observations of abundance enhancements of such ions in impulsive flares. In contrast to anti-parallel reconnection, the temperature increment during ion pickup is dominantly transverse, rather than parallel, to the local magnetic field. The simulations reveal the dominance of perpendicular heating, which is also consistent with observations. We suggest that the acceleration of ions to energies well above that associated with the Alfvén speed takes place during the interaction with many magnetic islands, which spontaneously develop during 3-D guide-field reconnection. The exploration of particle acceleration in a full 3-D multi-island system remains computationally intractable. Instead we explore ion acceleration in a multi-current layer system with low initial β. Ion energy gain takes place due to Fermi reflection in contracting and merging magnetic islands. Particle acceleration continues until the available magnetic free-energy is significantly depleted so that the pressure of energetic ions approaches that of the reconnecting field. Depending on the strength of the ambient guide field and in spite of the low initial plasma β, the dominance of parallel heating can cause significant regions of the plasma to exceed the marginal firehose condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent paper McCracken et al. (J. Geophys. Res. 113:A12101, ) proposed that the Ground Level Enhancement (GLE) of 20 January 2005 may have been produced by more than one acceleration mechanism, with the first acceleration due to the solar flare and the second one due to the CME associated with that event. They also noted several other GLEs with similar multiple pulse structures. This paper systematically investigates all the GLEs of solar cycle 23, from GLE 55 on 6 November 1997 to GLE 70 on 13 December 2006, to study their morphology and pulse structure, and to determine whether the multiple structures that may be found in these events are qualitatively similar to that of the GLE of 20 January 2005. We use all the data of all NMs that saw each event, to have as much directional and spectral information as possible. It is shown that three of these 16 events do contain such double-pulse structures, and the properties of these three are discussed in some detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground Level Enhancement (GLEs) events are extreme Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events. Protons in these events often reach ∼GeV/nucleon. Understanding the underlying particle acceleration mechanism in these events is a major goal for Space Weather studies. In Solar Cycle 23, a total of 16 GLEs have been identified. Most of them have preceding CMEs and in-situ energetic particle observations show some of them are enhanced in ICME or flare-like material. Motivated by this observation, we discuss here a scenario in which two CMEs erupt in sequence during a short period of time from the same Active Region (AR) with a pseudo-streamer-like pre-eruption magnetic field configuration. The first CME is narrower and slower and the second CME is wider and faster. We show that the magnetic field configuration in our proposed scenario can lead to magnetic reconnection between the open and closed field lines that drape and enclose the first CME and its driven shock. The combined effect of the presence of the first shock and the existence of the open close reconnection is that when the second CME erupts and drives a second shock, one finds both an excess of seed population and an enhanced turbulence level at the front of the second shock than the case of a single CME-driven shock. Therefore, a more efficient particle acceleration will occur. The implications of our proposed scenario are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground Level Enhancement (GLE) events represent the most energetic class of solar energetic particle (SEP) events, requiring acceleration processes to boost ≳1 GeV ions in order to produce showers of secondary particles in the Earth's atmosphere with sufficient intensity to be detected by ground-level neutron monitors, above the background of cosmic rays. Although the association of GLE events with both solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is undisputed, the question arises about the location of the responsible acceleration site: coronal flare reconnection sites, coronal CME shocks, or interplanetary shocks? To investigate the first possibility we explore the timing of GLE events with respect to hard X-ray production in solar flares, considering the height and magnetic topology of flares, the role of extended acceleration, and particle trapping. We find that 50% (6 out of 12) of recent (non-occulted) GLE events are accelerated during the impulsive flare phase, while the remaining half are accelerated significantly later. It appears that the prompt GLE component, which is observed in virtually all GLE events according to a recent study by Vashenyuk et al. (Astrophys. Space Sci. Trans. 7(4):459-463, ), is consistent with a flare origin in the lower corona, while the delayed gradual GLE component can be produced by both, either by extended acceleration and/or trapping in flare sites, or by particles accelerated in coronal and interplanetary shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar cycle 23 witnessed the most complete set of observations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) associated with the Ground Level Enhancement (GLE) events. We present an overview of the observed properties of the GLEs and those of the two associated phenomena, viz., flares and CMEs, both being potential sources of particle acceleration. Although we do not find a striking correlation between the GLE intensity and the parameters of flares and CMEs, the solar eruptions are very intense involving X-class flares and extreme CME speeds (average ∼2000 km/s). An M7.1 flare and a 1200 km/s CME are the weakest events in the list of 16 GLE events. Most (80 %) of the CMEs are full halos with the three non-halos having widths in the range 167 to 212 degrees. The active regions in which the GLE events originate are generally large: 1290 msh (median 1010 msh) compared to 934 msh (median: 790 msh) for SEP-producing active regions. For accurate estimation of the CME height at the time of metric type II onset and GLE particle release, we estimated the initial acceleration of the CMEs using flare and CME observations. The initial acceleration of GLE-associated CMEs is much larger (by a factor of 2) than that of ordinary CMEs (2.3 km/s vs. 1 km/s). We confirmed the initial acceleration for two events for which CME measurements are available in the inner corona. The GLE particle release is delayed with respect to the onset of all electromagnetic signatures of the eruptions: type II bursts, low frequency type III bursts, soft X-ray flares and CMEs. The presence of metric type II radio bursts some 17 min (median: 16 min; range: 3 to 48 min) before the GLE onset indicates shock formation well before the particle release. The release of GLE particles occurs when the CMEs reach an average height of ∼3.09 R (median: 3.18 R; range: 1.71 to 4.01 R) for well-connected events (source longitude in the range W20-W90). For poorly connected events, the average CME height at GLE particle release is ∼66 % larger (mean: 5.18 R; median: 4.61 R; range: 2.75-8.49 R). The longitudinal dependence is consistent with shock accelerations because the shocks from poorly connected events need to expand more to cross the field lines connecting to an Earth observer. On the other hand, the CME height at metric type II burst onset has no longitudinal dependence because electromagnetic signals do not require magnetic connectivity to the observer. For several events, the GLE particle release is very close to the time of first appearance of the CME in the coronagraphic field of view, so we independently confirmed the CME height at particle release. The CME height at metric type II burst onset is in the narrow range 1.29 to 1.8 R, with mean and median values of 1.53 and 1.47 R. The CME heights at metric type II burst onset and GLE particle release correspond to the minimum and maximum in the Alfvén speed profile. The increase in CME speed between these two heights suggests an increase in Alfvénic Mach number from 2 to 3. The CME heights at GLE particle release are in good agreement with those obtained from the velocity dispersion analysis (Reames in Astrophys. J. 693:812, ; Astrophys. J. 706:844, ) including the source longitude dependence. We also discuss the implications of the delay of GLE particle release with respect to complex type III bursts by ∼18 min (median: 16 in; range: 2 to 44 min) for the flare acceleration mechanism. A similar analysis is also performed on the delay of particle release relative to the hard X-ray emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energetic particle (SEP) events reaching rigidities >1 GV are observed at 1 AU as ground-level events (GLEs). They are considered to be extreme cases of gradual SEP events, produced by shocks driven by wide and fast CMEs that are usually associated with long-duration (>1 hour) soft X-ray (SXR) flares. However, some large gradual SEP events, including GLEs, are associated with flares of short-duration (<1 hour) timescales comparable to those of flares seen with impulsive, low-energy SEP events with enhanced charge states, heavy-element abundances, and e/p ratios. The association of some GLEs with short-duration SXR events challenges us to understand the GLE event-to-event variation with SXR durations and whether it truly reflects the nature of the particle acceleration processes or simply the characteristics of the solar regions from which large, fast CMEs arise. We examine statistically the associated flare, active region (AR), and CME characteristics of ∼40 GLEs observed since 1976 to determine how the GLE e/p and Fe/O ratios, each measured in two energy ranges, depend on those characteristics. The abundance ratios trend weakly to lower, more coronal, and less scattered values with increasing flare timescales, thermal and nonthermal peak fluxes, and measures of source AR sizes. These results and the wide range of solar longitude connections for GLEs with high abundance ratios argue against a significant role for flare effects in the GLEs. We suggest that GLE SEPs are accelerated predominately in CME-driven shocks and that a coupling of flare size and timescales with CME properties could explain the SEP abundance correlations with flare properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground level events (GLEs) occupy the high-energy end of gradual solar energetic particle (SEP) events. They are associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares, but we still do not clearly understand the special conditions that produce these rare events. During Solar Cycle 23, a total of 16 GLEs were registered, by ground-based neutron monitors. We first ask if these GLEs are clearly distinguishable from other SEP events observed from space. Setting aside possible difficulties in identifying all GLEs consistently, we then try to find observables which may unmistakably isolate these GLEs by studying the basic properties of the associated eruptions and the active regions (ARs) that produced them. It is found that neither the magnitudes of the CMEs and flares nor the complexities of the ARs give sufficient conditions for GLEs. It is possible to find CMEs, flares or ARs that are not associated with GLEs but that have more extreme properties than those associated with GLEs. We also try to evaluate the importance of magnetic field connection of the AR with Earth on the detection of GLEs and their onset times. Using the potential field source surface (PFSS) model, a half of the GLEs are found to be well-connected. However, the GLE onset time with respect to the onset of the associated flare and CME does not strongly depend on how well-connected the AR is. The GLE onset behavior may be largely determined by when and where the CME-driven shock develops. We could not relate the shocks responsible for the onsets of past GLEs with features in solar images, but the combined data from the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) have the potential to change this for GLEs that may occur in the rising phase of Solar Cycle 24. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The observed magnetic field configuration and signatures of reconnection in the large solar magnetic eruptions that make major flares and coronal mass ejections and in the much smaller magnetic eruptions that make X-ray jets are illustrated with cartoons and representative observed eruptions. The main reconnection signatures considered are the imaged bright emission from the heated plasma on reconnected field lines. In any of these eruptions, large or small, the magnetic field that drives the eruption and/or that drives the buildup to the eruption is initially a closed bipolar arcade. From the form and configuration of the magnetic field in and around the driving arcade and from the development of the reconnection signatures in coordination with the eruption, we infer that (1) at the onset of reconnection the reconnection current sheet is small compared to the driving arcade, and (2) the current sheet can grow to the size of the driving arcade only after reconnection starts and the unleashed erupting field dynamically forces the current sheet to grow much larger, building it up faster than the reconnection can tear it down. We conjecture that the fundamental reason the quasi-static pre-eruption field is prohibited from having a large current sheet is that the magnetic pressure is much greater than the plasma pressure in the chromosphere and low corona in eruptive solar magnetic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review surveys the statistics of solar X-ray flares, emphasising the new views that RHESSI has given us of the weaker events (the microflares). The new data reveal that these microflares strongly resemble more energetic events in most respects; they occur solely within active regions and exhibit high-temperature/nonthermal emissions in approximately the same proportion as major events. We discuss the distributions of flare parameters (e.g., peak flux) and how these parameters correlate, for instance via the Neupert effect. We also highlight the systematic biases involved in intercomparing data representing many decades of event magnitude. The intermittency of the flare/microflare occurrence, both in space and in time, argues that these discrete events do not explain general coronal heating, either in active regions or in the quiet Sun. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review discusses the complementary relationship between radio and hard X-ray observations of the Sun using primarily results from the era of the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager satellite. A primary focus of joint radio and hard X-ray studies of solar flares uses observations of nonthermal gyrosynchrotron emission at radio wavelengths and bremsstrahlung hard X-rays to study the properties of electrons accelerated in the main flare site, since it is well established that these two emissions show very similar temporal behavior. A quantitative prescription is given for comparing the electron energy distributions derived separately from the two wavelength ranges: this is an important application with the potential for measuring the magnetic field strength in the flaring region, and reveals significant differences between the electrons in different energy ranges. Examples of the use of simultaneous data from the two wavelength ranges to derive physical conditions are then discussed, including the case of microflares, and the comparison of images at radio and hard X-ray wavelengths is presented. There have been puzzling results obtained from observations of solar flares at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, and the comparison of these results with corresponding hard X-ray data is presented. Finally, the review discusses the association of hard X-ray releases with radio emission at decimeter and meter wavelengths, which is dominated by plasma emission (at lower frequencies) and electron cyclotron maser emission (at higher frequencies), both coherent emission mechanisms that require small numbers of energetic electrons. These comparisons show broad general associations but detailed correspondence remains more elusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RHESSI measurements relevant to the fundamental processes of energy release and particle acceleration in flares are summarized. RHESSI's precise measurements of hard X-ray continuum spectra enable model-independent deconvolution to obtain the parent electron spectrum. Taking into account the effects of albedo, these show that the low energy cut-off to the electron power-law spectrum is typically ≲tens of keV, confirming that the accelerated electrons contain a large fraction of the energy released in flares. RHESSI has detected a high coronal hard X-ray source that is filled with accelerated electrons whose energy density is comparable to the magnetic-field energy density. This suggests an efficient conversion of energy, previously stored in the magnetic field, into the bulk acceleration of electrons. A new, collisionless (Hall) magnetic reconnection process has been identified through theory and simulations, and directly observed in space and in the laboratory; it should occur in the solar corona as well, with a reconnection rate fast enough for the energy release in flares. The reconnection process could result in the formation of multiple elongated magnetic islands, that then collapse to bulk-accelerate the electrons, rapidly enough to produce the observed hard X-ray emissions. RHESSI's pioneering γ-ray line imaging of energetic ions, revealing footpoints straddling a flare loop arcade, has provided strong evidence that ion acceleration is also related to magnetic reconnection. Flare particle acceleration is shown to have a close relationship to impulsive Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events observed in the interplanetary medium, and also to both fast coronal mass ejections and gradual SEP events. New instrumentation to provide the high sensitivity and wide dynamic range hard X-ray and γ-ray measurements, plus energetic neutral atom (ENA) imaging of SEPs above ∼2 R, will enable the next great leap forward in understanding particle acceleration and energy release is large solar eruptions-solar flares and associated fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review basic theoretical concepts in particle acceleration, with particular emphasis on processes likely to occur in regions of magnetic reconnection. Several new developments are discussed, including detailed studies of reconnection in three-dimensional magnetic field configurations (e.g., current sheets, collapsing traps, separatrix regions) and stochastic acceleration in a turbulent environment. Fluid, test-particle, and particle-in-cell approaches are used and results compared. While these studies show considerable promise in accounting for the various observational manifestations of solar flares, they are limited by a number of factors, mostly relating to available computational power. Not the least of these issues is the need to explicitly incorporate the electrodynamic feedback of the accelerated particles themselves on the environment in which they are accelerated. A brief prognosis for future advancement is offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this introductory chapter, we provide a brief summary of the successes and remaining challenges in understanding the solar flare phenomenon and its attendant implications for particle acceleration mechanisms in astrophysical plasmas. We also provide a brief overview of the contents of the other chapters in this volume, with particular reference to the well-observed flare of 2002 July 23. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an overview of solar flares and associated phenomena, drawing upon a wide range of observational data primarily from the RHESSI era. Following an introductory discussion and overview of the status of observational capabilities, the article is split into topical sections which deal with different areas of flare phenomena (footpoints and ribbons, coronal sources, relationship to coronal mass ejections) and their interconnections. We also discuss flare soft X-ray spectroscopy and the energetics of the process. The emphasis is to describe the observations from multiple points of view, while bearing in mind the models that link them to each other and to theory. The present theoretical and observational understanding of solar flares is far from complete, so we conclude with a brief discussion of models, and a list of missing but important observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamma-rays and neutrons are the only sources of information on energetic ions present during solar flares and on properties of these ions when they interact in the solar atmosphere. The production of γ-rays and neutrons results from convolution of the nuclear cross-sections with the ion distribution functions in the atmosphere. The observed γ-ray and neutron fluxes thus provide useful diagnostics for the properties of energetic ions, yielding strong constraints on acceleration mechanisms as well as properties of the interaction sites. The problem of ion transport between the accelerating and interaction sites must also be addressed to infer as much information as possible on the properties of the primary ion accelerator. In the last couple of decades, both theoretical and observational developments have led to substantial progress in understanding the origin of solar γ-rays and neutrons. This chapter reviews recent developments in the study of solar γ-rays and of solar neutrons at the time of the RHESSI era. The unprecedented quality of the RHESSI data reveals γ-ray line shapes for the first time and provides γ-ray images. Our previous understanding of the properties of energetic ions based on measurements from the former solar cycles is also summarized. The new results-obtained owing both to the gain in spectral resolution (both with RHESSI and with the non solar-dedicated INTEGRAL/SPI instrument) and to the pioneering imaging technique in the γ-ray domain-are presented in the context of this previous knowledge. Still open questions are emphasized in the last section of the chapter and future perspectives on this field are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-radiation from energetic electrons is the prime diagnostic of flare-accelerated electrons. The observed X-ray flux (and polarization state) is fundamentally a convolution of the cross-section for the hard X-ray emission process(es) in question with the electron distribution function, which is in turn a function of energy, direction, spatial location and time. To address the problems of particle propagation and acceleration one needs to infer as much information as possible on this electron distribution function, through a deconvolution of this fundamental relationship. This review presents recent progress toward this goal using spectroscopic, imaging and polarization measurements, primarily from the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager ( RHESSI). Previous conclusions regarding the energy, angular (pitch angle) and spatial distributions of energetic electrons in solar flares are critically reviewed. We discuss the role and the observational evidence of several radiation processes: free-free electron-ion, free-free electron-electron, free-bound electron-ion, photoelectric absorption and Compton backscatter (albedo), using both spectroscopic and imaging techniques. This unprecedented quality of data allows for the first time inference of the angular distributions of the X-ray-emitting electrons and improved model-independent inference of electron energy spectra and emission measures of thermal plasma. Moreover, imaging spectroscopy has revealed hitherto unknown details of solar flare morphology and detailed spectroscopy of coronal, footpoint and extended sources in flaring regions. Additional attempts to measure hard X-ray polarization were not sufficient to put constraints on the degree of anisotropy of electrons, but point to the importance of obtaining good quality polarization data in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-energy X-rays and γ-rays from solar flares were discovered just over fifty years ago. Since that time, the standard for the interpretation of spatially integrated flare X-ray spectra at energies above several tens of keV has been the collisional thick-target model. After the launch of the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager ( RHESSI) in early 2002, X-ray spectra and images have been of sufficient quality to allow a greater focus on the energetic electrons responsible for the X-ray emission, including their origin and their interactions with the flare plasma and magnetic field. The result has been new insights into the flaring process, as well as more quantitative models for both electron acceleration and propagation, and for the flare environment with which the electrons interact. In this article we review our current understanding of electron acceleration, energy loss, and propagation in flares. Implications of these new results for the collisional thick-target model, for general flare models, and for future flare studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some solar flares are known to drive seismic waves into the sub-photospheres of the magnetic regions that host them. Sunquakes, which are identified as a wave-packet of ripples are observed on the solar surface emanating from a focal region, known as seismic source or sometimes as a transient. Not all seismic transients from flares generate sunquakes. How these are produced is still a puzzle. In this paper, I will give an overview of the observed properties of sunquakes and efforts to understanding physics underlying them, including numerical modelling of flare-driven oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article broadly reviews our knowledge of solar flares. There is a particular focus on their global properties, as opposed to the microphysics such as that needed for magnetic reconnection or particle acceleration as such. Indeed solar flares will always remain in the domain of remote sensing, so we cannot observe the microscales directly and must understand the basic physics entirely via the global properties plus theoretical inference. The global observables include the general energetics-radiation in flares and mass loss in coronal mass ejections (CMEs)-and the formation of different kinds of ejection and global wave disturbance: the type II radio-burst exciter, the Moreton wave, the EIT 'wave', and the 'sunquake' acoustic waves in the solar interior. Flare radiation and CME kinetic energy can have comparable magnitudes, of order 10 erg each for an X-class event, with the bulk of the radiant energy in the visible-UV continuum. We argue that the impulsive phase of the flare dominates the energetics of all of these manifestations, and also point out that energy and momentum in this phase largely reside in the electromagnetic field, not in the observable plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We transition from two-dimensional (2D) imaging observations of kink-mode loop oscillations in the solar corona to three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions by exploring two new methods: (1) De-projection of 2D loop tracings using the strategy of curvature radius maximization in 3D space, based on the assumption of force-free magnetic fields; and (2) stereoscopic triangulation of epipolar loop coordinates using coaligned images from the STEREO EUVI/A and B spacecraft. Both methods reveal new features of oscillating loops: non-circularity, non-planarity, and helical geometries. We extend the 3D reconstruction techniques into the time domain and find indications of circularly polarized (helical) kink-mode oscillations, in contrast to linearly polarized modes assumed previously. We discuss also hydrodynamic effects of coronal loops in non-equilibrium state that are essential for the detection and modeling of kink-mode oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP) are a common feature of flaring energy releases in the solar atmosphere, observed in all bands, from radio to hard X-ray. In this review we concentrate on QPP with the periods longer than one second. Physical mechanisms responsible for the generation of long QPP split into two groups: “load/unload” mechanisms and MHD oscillations. Load/unload mechanisms are repetitive regimes of flaring energy releases by magnetic reconnection or by other means. MHD oscillations can affect all elements of the flaring emission generation: triggering of reconnection and modulation of its rate, acceleration and dynamics of non-thermal electrons, and physical conditions in the emitting plasmas. In the case of MHD oscillations, the periodicity of QPP is determined either by the presence of some resonances, e.g. standing modes of plasma structures, or by wave dispersion. Periods and other parameters of QPP are linked with properties of flaring plasmas and their morphology. Observational investigation of the QPP generation mechanisms based upon the use of spatial information, broadband spectral coverage and multi-periodicity is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 14 July 1998 TRACE observed transverse oscillations of a coronal loop generated by an external disturbance most probably caused by a solar flare. These oscillations were interpreted as standing fast kink waves in a magnetic flux tube. Firstly, in this review we embark on the discussion of the theory of waves and oscillations in a homogeneous straight magnetic cylinder with the particular emphasis on fast kink waves. Next, we consider the effects of stratification, loop expansion, loop curvature, non-circular cross-section, loop shape and magnetic twist. An important property of observed transverse coronal loop oscillations is their fast damping. We briefly review the different mechanisms suggested for explaining the rapid damping phenomenon. After that we concentrate on damping due to resonant absorption. We describe the latest analytical results obtained with the use of thin transition layer approximation, and then compare these results with numerical findings obtained for arbitrary density variation inside the flux tube. Very often collective oscillations of an array of coronal magnetic loops are observed. It is natural to start studying this phenomenon from the system of two coronal loops. We describe very recent analytical and numerical results of studying collective oscillations of two parallel homogeneous coronal loops. The implication of the theoretical results for coronal seismology is briefly discussed. We describe the estimates of magnetic field magnitude obtained from the observed fundamental frequency of oscillations, and the estimates of the coronal scale height obtained using the simultaneous observations of the fundamental frequency and the frequency of the first overtone of kink oscillations. In the last part of the review we summarise the most outstanding and acute problems in the theory of the coronal loop transverse oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outwardly propagating intensity disturbances are a common feature in large, quiescent coronal loop structures. In this paper, an overview is given of the observed properties and the theoretical modelling. As a large number of events have been observed and analysed, good statistical results on the estimated parameters have now been obtained. The theoretical modelling mainly focuses on two distinct aspects, namely the observed rapid damping of the perturbations, thought to be due to thermal conduction and the origin of the driver. Leakage of the solar surface p-modes is the main candidate to explain the observed periodicity, due to the strong correlation between loop position and period and the filamentary nature of the observed coronal intensity perturbations. Recent observational results appear to confirm the leakage and subsequent upward propagation of the solar surface 5 minute oscillations into the overlying atmospheric layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]